(September 13, 2016) Matt Bagley is now working at the station he grew up listening to. A native of Medford, OR and an STAA member, Bagley has been hired as Sports Director at ESPN 580 KTMT in Medford. With his administrative duties, Bagley will do news and sports updates, and broadcast high school play-by-play.
“The cluster, Radio Medford, embraced the ESPN Radio format fairly early. There’s a hometown appeal,” says Bagley.
Bagley returns to Medford from the Basin Mediactive cluster in Klamath Falls, OR. “I spent most of my time running the front desk and editing commercial traffic,” he says. “It was difficult to juggle play-by-play with that. Now I have a full-time on-air position.”
In Medford, Bagley replaces his friend Max Milander, who recommended Bagley for the position. Bagley will be doing play-by-play for a football program that is tied for the most state titles in Oregon history, and a basketball program that is ranked in the Top 25 nationally.
Play-by-play is an area where Bagley has grown considerably over the past year. He says learning how to self-critique has been key. “The STAA Play-by-Play Pyramid taught me how to critique my tape, and STAA’s group critiques have been especially insightful. Not only do you learn the obvious where you went right or wrong, but if you listen to the other member’s submissions, you can learn how to listen to tape. I honestly feel like that is an underrated part of becoming a better broadcaster. Someone like me, who is still raw and in their twenties, can grow faster if they know how to listen to tape.”
Now, Bagley is eager to apply all that he’s learned on his hometown sports station.